How to make slow cooker chicken cauliflower curry that is easy, healthy, and delicious! Perfect for a weeknight dinner and freezes well, too! This is a paleo, gluten-free, and clean eating recipe.
How often do you use your slow cooker? Or your Instant Pot?
I am on such a slow cooker kick right now. They just make dinners so easy to make and my life becomes incredibly easy when I just add everything into the slow cooker, press on, and let the magic happen.
I mean -- why do I ever NOT use it?
Truth be told: No one else in the fam likes curry very much so I ate this ENTIRE recipe by myself over the course of a week. And I wasn't even mad.
The slow cooker chicken cauliflower curry blew my mind, guys. It's tasty and filling and flavorful and healthy. A big bowl of it is just 313 calories and a whopping 36 grams of lean protein -- not to mention the fiber from the cauliflower.
How To Make Chicken Cauliflower Curry in a Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
If you'd like to make this slow cooler recipe in an Instant Pot, the conversion guideline is very simple. Since Instant Pots and pressure cookers cook very fast so there's no need to cook the food for hours, like with a slow cooker. For this recipe, while we'd need to cook it for 5-6 hours in a slow cooker to fully cook the chicken, you can cook it for about 15-20 minutes in an Instant Pot. There's even an option for "meat/stew" you could use if you prefer. If you're looking to buy an Instant Pot, this is the one I use and it's awesome.
Then, just add the coconut milk and peas at the end like you would for the slow cooker and you'll be good to go.
What To Serve with Slow Cooker Chicken Cauliflower Curry
Personally, I like to enjoy this slow cooker chicken cauliflower curry just by itself in a big bowl. The combination of the chicken, cauliflower, peas, and curry is a meal in itself. However, if you'd like to serve this chicken curry recipe with something else, here are some tasty ideas:
- brown rice
- quinoa
- naan
- roasted potatoes
- spinach
- broccoli
How To Freeze Slow Cooker Chicken Cauliflower Curry
Since this slow cooker recipe makes quite a lot of curry, you’ll likely find yourself with plenty of left-overs. Fortunately, you can easily freeze leftover chicken cauliflower curry for a quick family meals or tasty lunch. Here are some tips for how to freeze this chicken curry recipe:
- Allow the curry to cool completely. Since slow cookers retain heat very well, you may want to transfer to a large bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool more quickly.
- Freeze in either gallon– or quart-sized freezer bags or freezer safe containers for easy thawing and storage.
- Leave enough space at the top of the bag to allow for expansion during freezing. Squeeze as much air as possible out of the top of the bag and seal securely.
- Place the soup-filled freezer bags in the freezer, in a single, flat layer (using a rimmed baking sheet is helpful). Allow to freeze completely. Then, stack them on top of each other or standing side by side.
- Thaw bags of frozen chicken curry in the refrigerator overnight.
More Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes
In my opinion, you can never have enough slow cooker recipes. Here are some of my absolute faves that I hope you enjoy, too!
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken
- Slow Cooker Hot And Sour Soup
- Slow Cooker Green Chili Pork Tacos
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
What are your favorite slow cooker recipes? Share in the comments below!
Slow Cooker Chicken Cauliflower Curry
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp. curry powder
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Add the chicken, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, curry powder, sea salt, black pepper, and onion to the slow cooker.
- Pour the chicken broth over and stir to mix everything together.
- Cook on high for about 3-4 hours or on low for approx. 5-6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and the cauliflower is tender.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred into bite size pieces. Then, return to the slow cooker.
- Add the coconut milk and peas, and stir to incorporate. Cook until warmed through.
- Top with cilantro and serve hot.
Video
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Heidi Mitchell
Loved this recipe. I used chicken tenders because it was what i had, followed the recipe to dice it up into bite size pieces.
I served it with rice. I also added a second can of coconut milk to the "leftovers" which turned out to be a great idea.
next time i would add water chestnuts or peanuts or toasted slivered almonds to add a crunch factor.
Alexandria
Delicious! I made with modifications from another reviewer. I used more curry and some chili powder And only chicken breast (that’s all I had). I also waited until the last hour to add the cauliflower. The result was great!
Sadpanda
Cauliflower was mush. Overall it was watery and bland.
Keiko
This was delicious, full of flavor. Not sure why people are saying it is bland. It's definitely a mild curry (which I prefer), but the ingredients come together in a tasty dish. I will be making this again. Thank you!
Mini’s Momma
I’m saying! Tonight is the second time I’ve made it and it freakin deliciousness 😋 All I can say is try and think outside the box a bit. I went way heavy on the curry, used chicken bone broth (twice as much) and added some water chestnuts. So good, but eat what y’all want 😉
Sorcha Vaughan
After reading the comments I changed up the recipie a bit when i made it. I doubled the curry powder added 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and used coconut cream instead of milk. I also thickened the curry with some flour.
John
I made this according to the instructions and found it to be quite tasty. I would agree that it was a little watery, but not like a soup. Adding in some arrowroot or cornstarch with the coconut milk would probably thicken it up. I prefer to cook with very little salt, and let people add salt as they desire. Most processed food and restaurant food has a very high sodium content which people have grown accustomed to. The previous recipe I made from this website, Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Bowls was definitely a 5-star winner, so I would not throw the baby out with Curry water. I have in the past successfully rinsed off chicken cooked in a less than perfect recipe, shredded it, and used it as mock "Rotisserie chicken" in another recipe - one with strong flavoring. To be fair, my wife thought this recipe was rather bland and watery, so I can understand the the previous posters giving the recipe a low rating. I'll end with 3-stars.
Jeff
Was excited to make this dish as who doesn’t like love curry chicken with Cauliflower? What a huge disappointment... the most tasteless meal we have had in a long time. So bland, did not taste like curry at all... basically water soup with chicken floating in it.
Wendy
Just made this tonight for the first time and even though I did not have the same cauliflower issues people mentioned, I did find that it was lacking a lot in flavor. Definitely don't expect it to taste like any curry you have had in the past. I ended up throwing it out.
colin
Agree with Liana, followed the recipe verbatim and ended up with the most bland dinner I've had in months. Didn't taste like curry at all. We literally threw it out and ordered take out after it was that bad and a big waste of food. If you're going to be a masochist and try this recipe yourself, do yourself a favor and go get some green curry paste and add that, that might offer some redeeming qualities.
Won't be following or getting any recipes from this site ever again. Shame.
Liana
Probably one of the blandest boring meals I've made in a long long time. Was so hopeful as we love chicken, curry and cauliflower. Not a single person in my family would repeat. My husband said it needed a bottle of salt to be edible. And the recipe was followed to a t. Sorry, unfollowing this poster.
KATE
It was one of my first dishes prepared in slow cooker and I found it delicious. It was also easy to prepare so I would recommend it to beginners.
Carolyn
How do you recommend I cook this with frozen chicken?
Stephanie Guzman
You don't. You have to thaw the chicken out first or you'll have a inedible mess.
Heidi Mitchell
i used frozen chicken tenders and it worked just fine.
and for the claimers of bland taste... i just don't get it. I used the 2 TBSP and it was perfect. Lots of flavor in this recipe.
Julia Carriere
I put my frozen breasts in for about an hour on high. Then added thawed ones, I didn’t have enough out. Then add other ingredients. I also added onions. Then near end diced peppers.
Elyce
I will, most likely, make this recipe next week. I'll add the cauliflower at the last 30 minutes of a 5 1/2 hour cook on low. I've had success with crocking whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts at 5 1/2 hours on low & broccoli, snow peas, sugar snap peas & bell pepper during last 30 mins. of the cooking time.
Leland
I had the same issue when using a slow cooker/crock pot... the cauliflower was all mush by the end of the cooking time. The flavor of the dish was delicious. If I make it again, I would add the cauliflower the last 30-45 min of cooking.
Deana
Hi Lacy
I made the curry tonight in my instapot and it is delicious! I cooked it on high pressure for 18 minutes, unfortunately the cauliflower almost broke down completely. Any tip on how to prevent that? Rest assured it’s so delicious I will eat it all anyway 😊 Thanks for an easy & delicious recipe!
Elyce
To avoid cauliflower mush, add it during the last hour to 45 mins. of cooking time in a Crockpot/slow cooker.